Heh, Jiang Zhao had finally responded officially.
And Jiang Youli’s Weibo had been completely overrun because of his statement.
Jiang Zhao’s fans swarmed in, recklessly spouting abuse on her page:
[Zhaozhao’s new song is available on every major music platform, while yours is only available on Red Fruit Music. That proves none of the other platforms wanted your song, right?]
[You can’t exactly complain about losing to Zhaozhao!]
[If you’d listened to our advice sooner, forgiven Zhaozhao, and collaborated with him, the two of you could have achieved a win-win situation. But now you’ve forced Zhaozhao to join Gale Entertainment and become your rival. You’re unbelievably stupid!]
Little Yang, the secretary, said indignantly, “I used to like Jiang Zhao quite a bit. I even felt it was a pity that he went to work for Gale Entertainment. But now I think he’s absolutely awful!”
“He pretended to be pitiful and begged President Jiang for your forgiveness, then turned around and ran to Gale Entertainment as soon as he couldn’t resist the temptation. That would have been bad enough, but he also paid for one smear campaign after another to put you down. Now he’s personally stirring up his fans to attack you again. He’s disgusting!”
Seeing how Little Yang was standing up for her, Jiang Youli smiled. “Don’t get so worked up. I have to admit, although what he’s doing is disgusting, he’s certainly been generating publicity for my new song.”
Little Yang said, “President Jiang, you really are broad-minded to be able to see things that way.”
In the end, she still asked for instructions. “Should we have someone negotiate with a few more music platforms so that your new song can be released on them simultaneously?”
“There’s no need to give those other music platforms a free advantage,” Jiang Youli said.
She knew the head of Red Fruit Music, and her company also owned some shares under the name Night Shadow. She had never intended to release the song on other music platforms in the first place. It wasn’t that negotiations with them had failed.
Little Yang: !!!
President Jiang was far too confident in her own song!
For no apparent reason, Little Yang felt emboldened as well. “All right. I’ll go follow up on the work of the other artists under the company’s various managers.”
“Good.”
After Little Yang left, Jiang Youli returned to her earlier train of thought.
Qin Yulian had disappeared at such a critical moment. It was difficult to say that it had nothing to do with the so-called “main event” Long Yuan had mentioned.
But…
No matter how deranged Jiang Yangxu was, hiring someone to kidnap Pretty Mom the last time was one thing—it had only been his goon. But would he really use his own wife as bait this time?
Still, it wasn’t impossible. Jiang Yangxu had always been arrogant. Losing a finger hadn’t been enough to sober him up, and now he had even been driven out of the Jiang family. He couldn’t return to the family home without Jiang Youli’s approval, and Grandpa wouldn’t agree otherwise.
When cornered, even a dog will bite its own companion!
Once Night Shadow’s investigation was complete, they would know whether Jiang Yangxu was truly deranged enough to do such a thing.
…
Night fell.
After a full day of work, Jiang Youli returned home. During dinner, she directly said to Handsome Dad, “Dad, get me one more invitation to my birthday banquet. Put Zhou Zerui’s name on it.”
At that, Zhang Susu paused with her chopsticks in hand. “Zhou Zerui? The actor who’s been trending online because he’s going to play the popular male antagonist—the second male lead—in A Cloudbound Ambition?”
Jiang Youli nodded. “Yes.”
Zhang Susu asked again, “Is he a friend of yours?”
Jiang Youli answered truthfully, “No. He’s Huanhuan’s younger brother.”
Zhang Susu was astonished. “Her younger brother… Does that mean the Qi Yue from before…”
“That one was fake,” Jiang Youli said without hesitation.
Zhang Susu quickly understood despite her shock. “No wonder. I always thought it was strange that Qi Huan treated Qi Yue and that adopted daughter, Qi Yu, so well. Who would have thought Qi Yue would join forces with his adopted sister to harm his own biological brother? He really couldn’t tell right from wrong. So it turns out Qi Yue wasn’t Qi Huan’s real younger brother at all.”
Jiang Yehan spoke up with some concern. “Youli, you’re telling us something this important just like that. Is it really all right?”
Zhang Susu came to the same realization. “Yes, is that okay?”
Jiang Youli smiled. “You’re my parents, and you’re the people I trust. There’s no need for me to deliberately hide this from you. Besides, everyone who needs to know that Zhou Zerui is Huanhuan’s brother already knows.”
“I see.” Zhang Susu had another concern. “What about all those scandals about Zhou Zerui that have been flooding the internet?”
“They were fabricated by his rivals,” Jiang Youli said. “Zhou Zerui was an orphan before this. He was raised by a mute uncle who collected recyclables. Because of his outstanding looks, he got an opportunity to enter the entertainment industry and suddenly became popular. Naturally, rivals with powerful connections and backing grew jealous of him and twisted the truth to slander him. Once A Cloudbound Ambition officially begins filming, I’ll find a suitable opportunity to clear his name.”
“So that’s what happened.” Zhang Susu understood. “Who would have thought he was Qi Huan’s biological younger brother? From now on, who in the entertainment industry would dare to offend him?”
“Exactly.” Jiang Youli couldn’t help sighing. “It goes to show how difficult it is for an ordinary person to make a name for themselves in any field without backing, connections, or resources.”
Her organization recruited all kinds of talented people, most of whom came from ordinary families. If they had never been discovered, they might have remained unknown their entire lives, struggling to make a living for a few pieces of silver.
Zhang Susu’s eyes grew moist. “Youli, judging by how successful you are now, you must have worked incredibly hard and endured so much in the past.”
Jiang Youli smiled. “Mom, there are actually countless people who work harder than I do. I’m simply lucky. Lucky to have met my adoptive father, lucky to have encountered Uncle Zhou and the others, and lucky to have been accepted by you and Dad as your daughter.”
Zhang Susu’s eyes reddened at once.
Beside her, Jiang Yehan teased, “Youli, if you keep going, your mom is going to cry again.”
Zhang Susu burst out laughing and lightly shoved him, pretending to scold him. “You’re the one who talks too much.”
“All right, I won’t say anything else. Let’s eat.” Jiang Yehan placed a slice of beef in her bowl. “Consider it my apology.”
Zhang Susu picked up the slice with her chopsticks. “I suppose I can forgive you.”
Watching her parents flirt openly and affectionately, Jiang Youli pursed her lips and smiled happily.
After dinner, Jiang Yehan gave Jiang Youli the tracking and self-defense electronic device he had brought from Greenbud Technology.
“Youli, this is the product you asked for last night.”
“All right.”
Jiang Yehan then explained the device’s basic functions to her. “This product has two parts. One is similar to a watch. Enter your personal information, then wear it on your wrist. Under normal circumstances, it can track your location and monitor your heart rate. In an emergency, it can release a powerful electric current that will render someone briefly unconscious. The other part is designed to shield the wearer from that sudden surge of electricity.”
Jiang Youli nodded. “I understand, Dad.”
After putting away the self-defense device, Jiang Youli discussed the final details of the birthday banquet with Pretty Mom, including the venue decorations and the dishes to be served. Before they knew it, it was already ten o’clock at night, and she finally returned to her room.
Xiaobai and Xiaolv were already asleep at the head of the bed.
Xiaohui was nowhere to be seen. He had probably gone off to play invisible again.
Jiang Youli patted Xiaolv, Xiaobai, and Xiaohui on their little heads one by one. After telling them, “Thanks for all your hard work these past few days,” she took her pajamas and went to shower.
When she came out, she saw that there was a canceled video call from Qi Huan on her phone.
Jiang Youli lay down on the bed and called her back via video.
As soon as the call connected, the first thing Qi Huan said was, “Today, I spoke to a few of my brothers and friends about taking you along to dinner when we’re all free.”
